1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inverted type of vehicular damper (i.e., a damper for a vehicle) with a vehicle height adjusting function which is built into a suspension of a vehicle such as a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inverted type of vehicular damper is known. This damper is made up of a damper main body, and a damper rod which is inserted into the damper main body from the bottom or lower side thereof so as to be movable up and down (i.e., in the axial direction of the damper). The damper main body is connected to a vehicle body, and the damper rod is connected to an unsprung member so that a damping force against the vibrations of the unsprung member can be obtained.
In case a vehicle height adjusting function is added to this kind of vehicular damper, a vehicle height adjusting cylinder is interposed between the vehicle body and the damper main body. A pressure fluid from a pressure source is supplied to the vehicle height adjusting cylinder. In order to maintain the vehicle height constant even if the load carried on the vehicle varies, the following arrangement is made. Namely, there is provided a vehicle height detection switch made up of a limit switch or the like which is switched on or switched off as a result of a swinging movement of a suspension arm. A signal from the vehicle height detection switch is inputted into a controller. The pressure source for the vehicle height adjusting cylinder and a solenoid valve which is interposed in a pressure fluid supply circuit are controlled by the controller.
In the above-described conventional vehicular damper, however, there are required the pressure source for the vehicle height adjusting cylinder, the solenoid valve, and the controller to control them. As a consequence, the vehicular damper becomes expensive. In addition, since a piping work is required for connection between the pressure source and the vehicle height adjusting cylinder, it takes much time to build the vehicular damper into the vehicle.
In view of the above-described disadvantages of the prior art, the present invention has an object of providing an inverted type of vehicular damper with a vehicle height adjusting function which is low in cost and superior in the ease with which the vehicular damper can be built into the vehicle.